Sales Management

Why AEs Are Spread Thin (And How to Fix It)

1. Multiple deal stages requiring different skills

Managing multiple deals at various stages demands vastly different skill sets from your AEs.

One moment they're conducting discovery calls to understand a prospect's pain points. The next, they're crafting detailed proposals or negotiating contract terms.

Moving between these different modes taxes your reps' mental bandwidth. A rep who's just finished an intense pricing negotiation needs time to shift gears before running a discovery call with a new prospect.

The mental strain multiplies when AEs handle deals across:

Multiple product lines with distinct value propositions
Different verticals requiring unique industry knowledge
Varying deal sizes that need custom negotiation approaches
Diverse buyer personas with specific pain points

A rep closing a $500K deal for a healthcare client may then need to pivot to a discovery call with a retail prospect—two completely different skill sets requiring unique preparation. Add in switching between verticals like SaaS and manufacturing, and mental bandwidth is depleted fast.

The good news? You can optimize your team's mental energy.

Take control by helping your AEs batch similar activities:

Group discovery calls on Mondays and Wednesdays
Run demos on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Dedicate Fridays to proposal work and negotiations

But that's not all.

Create protected focus blocks where AEs can dive deep into specific deal stages without interruption.

Also, coach your team on transition rituals between different types of calls. A five-minute reset period helps reps mentally prepare and review key points before switching contexts.

By reducing context-switching and creating dedicated time for different deal stages, your AEs can bring their full attention and expertise to each interaction.

2. Administrative burden and tool sprawl

Managing a sprawling tech stack has become a full-time job for many AEs. Your reps toggle between their CRM, sales engagement platform, calendar tools, document sharing systems, and communication apps – often entering the same information multiple times.

In fact, according to Salesfoce, 66% of salespeople feel overwhelmed by tools.

Consider this: Every minute spent on administrative tasks is a minute not spent selling. This means fewer deals closed and lower revenue for your team.

The cognitive burden of switching between platforms drains your reps’ energy, reduces their productivity, and increases the risk of burnout. They waste precious mental bandwidth remembering different login credentials, learning various interfaces, and hunting for information across multiple systems.

Your tech stack needs a reality check. Here are five practical ways to simplify your tech stack and free your team from admin overload.

Audit current tools by cataloging all platforms in use, identifying overlapping functionality, and gathering user feedback to uncover inefficiencies
Map key workflows—like lead management and deal progression—to pinpoint areas of unnecessary data entry and streamline processes
Configure automated data syncs between core platforms, such as ensuring CRM updates flow into your sales engagement tool and vice versa
Create standardized templates for common documents, like proposals, follow-up emails, and onboarding materials
Establish clear processes for when to use each tool, such as defining which platform to log customer interactions and where to store key documents

The result? Your AEs spend less time wrestling with technology and more time building relationships, understanding customer needs, and closing deals.

3. Unclear deal prioritization

Your AEs face a common challenge every morning: which deals need their attention today? Without clear prioritization, they default to the loudest voice or the most recent email.

When reps spread their attention evenly across all opportunities, high-potential deals get shortchanged while long shots consume valuable time. This misalignment of effort directly impacts your pipeline health and revenue targets.

Use tools like Saleboat to pinpoint patterns that gut instinct might miss.

Here are the key metrics that should guide your deal prioritization:

Deal size and potential revenue impact
Current stage in the sales cycle
Recent engagement levels and prospect responsiveness
Historical win rates for similar opportunities
Resources already invested in the deal
Strategic value beyond immediate revenue

By analyzing patterns in successful closes, you can help your AEs spot similar signals in their current pipeline.

The bottom line? Clear prioritization frameworks, backed by data, help your AEs make confident decisions about where to invest their time and energy.

Create a daily rhythm where reps review their pipeline through this lens. When AEs know which deals deserve their best effort, they move with purpose rather than react to the chaos.

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4. Misaligned coaching and support

The difference between proactive vs. reactive management shows up most clearly in coaching—generic “close more deals” advice doesn't cut it when your AEs face specific challenges.

Your rep struggling with discovery needs different support than one who's hitting roadblocks in negotiations.

Most coaching misses the mark for one simple reason: It doesn’t address the real problems your AEs face day-to-day like struggling to frame compelling discovery questions or handle objections during pricing conversations.

Think about it. When was the last time you dove deep into understanding exactly where each of your reps gets stuck?

Here's what focused coaching based on deal stage data reveals:

Which discovery questions consistently lead to stronger opportunities
How top performers handle specific objections at each stage
Where deals typically stall in your sales process
What activities separate successful closes from lost opportunities
When additional resources or support most impact deal momentum

Saleboat's algorithm shows you precisely where each rep needs help. Instead of general sales tips, you can provide specific guidance that moves the needle.

Real coaching happens in the trenches. Use your one-on-ones to review actual deals, analyze specific conversations, and practice responses to real customer scenarios.

As reps see improvement in their problem areas, they gain confidence and seek out more specific feedback.

5. Communication overload

Constant internal messages, customer emails, Slack pings, and chat threads are productivity killers that leave your AEs spinning their wheels instead of focusing on deals.

The math tells a sobering story: each interruption costs 23 minutes of focus—time that could be spent advancing deals or closing opportunities.

Now multiply that by dozens of daily communication touchpoints. Your reps lose hours of productive time just trying to get back into their groove.

These common communication disruptions chip away at your reps’ focus and steal hours of productive time each day:

Impromptu requests from other departments
Multiple chat threads requiring immediate responses
Status update meetings that could be emails
Non-urgent questions stealing focus from critical deals
Constant CRM notification pings and reminders

The solution starts with clear boundaries. Set specific times for internal communications. Create quiet periods for deep work. Build buffers between meetings for mental reset.

Most importantly? Model these behaviors yourself. When managers respect focus time, the team follows suit.

Make communication purposeful so your AEs get space to think deeply about their deals without constant digital taps on the shoulder.

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6. Inadequate pipeline coverage

Your AEs are chasing too many opportunities but still worry about having enough pipeline coverage—a paradox that drains their energy, lowers morale, and sabotages performance.

More deals don't automatically mean more closes.

Quality suffers as quantity increases—important details get missed, relationships stay surface-level, and promising leads fall through the cracks.

These red flags signal that your pipeline needs immediate right-sizing:

Deals sitting stagnant in early stages
Rushed discovery calls that miss critical details
Limited time for thorough opportunity qualification
Delayed follow-ups on promising leads
Surface-level relationships with key stakeholders
Missing information in deal records

Instead, find your team’s optimal pipeline size with sales performance analysis. Analyze historical data on win rates, average deal cycles, and the number of opportunities top-performing reps can handle without sacrificing quality.

A smaller, well-qualified pipeline usually outperforms a bloated one. Help your reps focus on deals that match your ideal customer profile. Better qualification up front means less time wasted on poor-fit opportunities later.

The goal isn’t maximum coverage—it’s the right coverage for thoughtful, high-quality deal execution.

7. Complex product knowledge requirements

Having a deep product suite creates a challenging paradox for your AEs. They need broad knowledge to spot opportunities, but also deep expertise to close complex deals.

Most teams handle this poorly. They dump massive amounts of product information on their reps and expect them to become instant experts.

The reality? Information overload leaves reps with surface-level knowledge that fails under pressure, especially during technical discussions or when handling objections.

These key symptoms show when product complexity overwhelms your AEs:

Avoiding detailed technical discussions with prospects
Missing cross-sell opportunities due to knowledge gaps
Relying too heavily on product specialists
Struggling to translate features into business value
Defaulting to familiar products even when others fit better
Losing credibility during technical objection handling

To combat this, you need systems that simplify complexity and make knowledge easy to access and apply.

Reps don’t need to memorize your entire product catalog. Equip them with cheat sheets highlighting top features, use cases, and two to three customer stories for each product. Short weekly role-play sessions can boost confidence and reduce reliance on specialists.

Your AEs don't need to know everything. They need to know enough to have confident conversations and know when to bring in specialists.

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8. Poor handoff processes

Weak handoff processes create inefficiencies that frustrate prospects, waste your reps’ time, and cause opportunities to stall or fall apart.

Suppose your AE joins their first call with a promising prospect. But crucial details from previous conversations are missing, forcing them to repeat discovery questions and damage rapport.

The cost goes beyond frustrated prospects. Poor handoffs waste valuable selling time as AEs dig for information that should be readily available.

Here are the critical failure points in most handoff processes:

Missing qualification criteria and prospect pain points
Unclear next steps and prospect expectations
Lost context about previous conversations
Incomplete stakeholder information and relationships
Undocumented objections or concerns
Gaps in understanding prospect's buying process

These gaps don’t just slow down your sales process—they create a poor buyer experience that erodes trust and momentum.

Creating clear handoff protocols isn't just about checking boxes. It's about maintaining momentum and delivering a seamless buyer experience.

Document what "good" looks like. A strong handoff includes:

Decision-maker details (e.g., name, title, key pain points)
Buyer journey stage (e.g., awareness, consideration, or decision)
Next steps agreed upon (e.g., 'pricing review scheduled for Jan 25')

Define the minimum information required for a clean handoff, such as key pain points, decision-maker details, the buying timeline, and any previously discussed objections.

Strong handoffs create confident conversations. When AEs start with complete information, they can focus on moving deals forward instead of filling knowledge gaps.

Support your AEs with the right sales processes

Supporting your AEs isn’t about flooding them with more software or pressuring them to hit impossible quotas. It’s about helping them overcome context-switching, admin overload, and unclear prioritization—issues that drain their energy and stall deals.

When you help your reps manage their mental bandwidth, streamline their processes, and focus on the right opportunities, you set them up for sustainable success.

Saleboat analyzes lost deals by tracking key metrics like engagement levels, timeline adherence, and objections raised—offering actionable insights to help AEs refine their approach. It saves hours of manual analysis and ensures your team spends more time closing deals.

Ready to help your AEs close more deals while cutting out wasted time? See how Saleboat simplifies sales processes and unlocks your team’s potential.